Damn son. This is all sorts of interesting, especially given the theory posited by the likes of ColinWilson that is was such technology that enabled whoever built the pyramids in their seemingly impossible feat (also that the pyramids themselves are said by many to be superconductors, built in such a fashion as to channel both sound and other energies). Museums are stuffed with ancient carvings of giant tuning forks and ram’s horns aimed at levitating rocks and temples. Also worth remembering the myriad similar legends, like those about the temple of Uxmal in Mexico that “was built by a race of dwarves, which apparently only had to whistle and ‘heavy rocks would move into place’”.

Also that time The KLF knocked a cow across a field by blasting it with sub bass. Amen.

With every new year comes change, and change can be scary. Thankfully, we know that there’s at least one way 2014 will be like every year that came before it. Watching scientists make stuff levitate is still cool as hell, same as it ever was.

The latest work comes from a group of researchers at the University of Tokyo. What we see in their latest proof of concept clip is fairly dumbfounding: Arrangements of tiny little beads lift into the air and glide around in perfect formation. An iron screw spins gently in space. Pieces of plastic, broken match heads, and even droplets of water all defy gravity, all thanks to the precise application of ultrasonic sound waves.

The idea itself is not entirely novel. As we’re told in the clip, scientists have been experimenting with acoustic levitation for decades, using sound waves to suspend materials in mid-air. What’s new here, though, is the ability to move those materials in three dimensions.

That’s made possible by the unique arrangement of the speakers themselves. Where former setups bounced sound waves off a solid plate, the Tokyo researchers instead use four panels of speakers, all facing each other. These walls combine to create an “ultrasonic focal point,” which can be moved—along with the object trapped in it—by adjusting the output from each speaker array. The sound waves are out of the range of human hearing, so the setup effectively operates in silence.

Cyberpunk manga Akira debuted in 1982—over thirty years ago. The manga, and subsequent anime, are set in 2019, against the backdrop of the forthcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Er, I mean the 2020 Neo-Tokyo Olympics. The impending games and Neo-Tokyo Olympic Stadium do factor into the plot (for example, Akira is housed in a cryogenic chamber below the stadium, and the Olympic grounds house a military base.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FtPhrCTjMtQ

The upcoming Olympics are even mentioned in the original Japanese theatrical trailer for the 1988 feature film, which is, of course, based on the manga…

There used to be castles there used to be fossils there used to be hustle and bustle A stranger might cuss you People used to fight in the streets Now its light in the streets all night And we don’t have the mind to fight

I heard there once were believers In angels, demons and Jesus A man they crucified to cleanse their sin sent here to lead us the people needed this but now they are all buried and deadIn cause of minutae diversions from the course of the thread

She said said there used to be family A mam and dad who’d get angry Cause of the silly roles they acted out PhotoCopied out

shout next shift does the same punch the clock at eight again Round and round the bend again To bend the brain into the same

- There used to be writers There used to be fighters They used to have all kinds of clowns and acts All paid to excite us They used computers but rarely plugged in their brains at the same time They just mainlined that slaved mind to save time

They said that it could never happen here It could never happen here It could never happen here It could never happen here

- There used to be castles there used to be fossils there used to be hustle and bustle A stranger might cuss you People used to fight in the streets Now its light in the streets all night And we don’t have the mind to fight

She said there used to be music and that the people could use it theey used to get two persons on a plinth poke one you could choose it one loses used to be a fire in the sky used to be a why used to be a reason to die

There used to be cities of gold Lead from every road And you’re getting old And the city’s cold

So it goes So I’m told – I wasn’t even born

They said that it could never happen here It could never happen here It could never happen and it hasn’t happened nothing ever happens near Fucking here Nothing ever happened here

AK Donovan: Programming, Synths

Contains a sample of Ride On by Christy Moore, used without permission

Sickle! behold, a super-lush trailer for the forthcoming Iron Man anime, created by Japanese animation studio Madhouse. According to Robot 6, “written by Warren Ellis, Iron Man is set in Tokyo, and deals with a culture clash and the history of weapon design.”